Galaxy S10 Will Have Variants With In-Display And Side-Mounted Fingerprint Sensors

Earlier in June, it was reported that Samsung was developing three variants of the upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship, one of which will feature a triple-rear camera set-up. A new report from Korea-based The Bellhas shed more light on the rumors of the three Galaxy S10 variants and has also revealed additional details about them, such as the debut of an in-display as well as a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on Samsung smartphones.

According to information received from industry insiders, all three variants of the Galaxy S10 will come with different specifications and will be targeted at a different segment. Two of the Galaxy S10 variants will come equipped with an in-display fingerprint sensor, while the affordable version of the flagship will feature a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Codenamed Beyond 2, the top-end variant will feature the largest display among its sibling with curved edges, and will come equipped with a triple rear camera set-up, being the first Samsung device to feature three rear cameras. More importantly, the device will feature an in-display fingerprint sensor, or as the report puts it, a Fingerprint On Display (FOD) function.

The FOD modules will be procured by Qualcomm and are reportedly over seven times more expensive than the conventional rear-mounted fingerprint sensors on Samsung devices, as the in-display sensing hardware costs $15 while the regular fingerprint modules cost just $2. The in-display fingerprint modules will be embedded beneath the device’s OLED panel by the team at the company’s display-making unit, Samsung Display.

As for the mid-tier ‘Beyond 1’ variant of the Galaxy S10, it will feature a smaller curved display than the ‘Beyond 2’ version, and will pack a dual rear camera set-up akin to the Galaxy S9 Plus. Moreover, it will also feature Samsung’s in-display fingerprint scanning solution. As for the cheapest variant of the Galaxy S10 codenamed ‘Beyond 0’, it will make numerous specs-sheet compromises to maintain a competitive price point.

The lowest-end Galaxy S10 version won’t feature a curved display and will pack just a single rear camera. Moreover, the device will feature a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, much like some of Sony’s Xperia smartphones (seen below), and will be the first Samsung device to feature a side-mounted fingerprint module that will be located on the smartphone’s right edge.

Side-mounted fingerprint sensor (Image only for representation)

It appears that Samsung will ditch the iris scanner on its next generation of flagships in favor of in-display fingerprint sensors as well as a side-mounted fingerprint scanning module, just as previous reports had indicated. There are also reports which suggest that the Galaxy Note 9, which is set to be unveiled on August 9, might also feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. There is no concrete information as to when Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S10 series, but The Bell had earlier revealed that the device might be unveiled at CES 2019 in January.